Changes

Comey appointed [[James Baker (DOJ)|James Baker]] as General Counsel in January 2014,<ref>https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/pressrel/press-releases/james-a.-baker-appointed-as-fbis-general-counsel</ref> [[James Rybicki]] as his [[Chief of Staff]] in May 2015,<ref>https://heavy.com/news/2017/06/jim-rybick-fbi-chief-of-staff-biography-james-comey/</ref> and [[Andrew McCabe]] as Deputy Director in February 2016.

Comey appointed [[James Baker (DOJ)|James Baker]] as General Counsel in January 2014,<ref>https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/pressrel/press-releases/james-a.-baker-appointed-as-fbis-general-counsel</ref> [[James Rybicki]] as his [[Chief of Staff]] in May 2015,<ref>https://heavy.com/news/2017/06/jim-rybick-fbi-chief-of-staff-biography-james-comey/</ref> and [[Andrew McCabe]] as Deputy Director in February 2016.

Shortly after Rybicki transferred from the DOJ-National Security Division, Obama received his first briefing on [[Donald Trump]].<ref>Mary Anne Marsh on ''Justice with Judge Jeanine'', 31 March 2017. https://youtu.be/R1XIUv7IYiA</ref> In July 2015, Deputy Attorney General [[Sally Yates]] issued a legal opinion denying the DOJ Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]] oversight of the DOJ-National Security Division (DOJ-NSD).<ref>http://www.independentsentinel.com/jim-rybicki-john-carlin-must-be-investigated-in-the-doj-fbi-corruption-case/</ref><ref>https://t.co/b2VmsRhQ42</ref> Horowitz raised concern that his office would be required to seek the Department’s permission for oversight, imperilling independence. Horowitz said the new procedure implemented by Yates is “inconsistent with the Inspector General Act, impairs the OIG’s independence, and fails to account for the over 20 year record of Department and FBI compliance with OIG document requests.”<ref>http://www.pogo.org/blog/2015/06/20150624-watchdog-barks-for-access-to-fbi-records.html</ref>

Shortly after Rybicki transferred from the DOJ-National Security Division, Obama received his first briefing on [[Donald Trump]].<ref>Mary Anne Marsh on ''Justice with Judge Jeanine'', 31 March 2017. https://youtu.be/R1XIUv7IYiA</ref> In July 2015, Deputy Attorney General [[Sally Yates]] issued a legal opinion denying the DOJ Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]] oversight of the DOJ-National Security Division (DOJ-NSD).<ref>http://www.independentsentinel.com/jim-rybicki-john-carlin-must-be-investigated-in-the-doj-fbi-corruption-case/</ref><ref>https://t.co/b2VmsRhQ42</ref> Horowitz raised concern that his office would be required to seek the Department's permission for oversight, imperilling independence. Horowitz said the new procedure implemented by Yates is “inconsistent with the Inspector General Act, impairs the OIG’s independence, and fails to account for the over 20 year record of Department and FBI compliance with OIG document requests.”<ref>http://www.pogo.org/blog/2015/06/20150624-watchdog-barks-for-access-to-fbi-records.html</ref>

The same month there were calls for [[Attorney General]] [[Loretta Lynch]] to appoint a special prosecutor in the [[Hillary Clinton email scandal|Clinton email probe]] and the [[Uranium One bribery scandal|Uranium One "pay-to-play" scandal]]. The FBI opened its investigation of [[Hillary Clinton]] with Andrew McCabe “running the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office, which provided personnel and resources to the Clinton email probe.”  Five days after the story broke,<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html</ref> McCabe and his wife met with Clinton fundraiser [[Terry McAuliffe]]. McAuliffe’s political action committee and associated groups under his control gave nearly $700,000 to McCabe's wife to run for the Virginia state senate.<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-examines-potential-conflicts-top-fbi-official’s-role-russia-collusion</ref> The Clinton personnel began immediately scrubbing their servers with BleachBit, and McCabe ordered FBI agents to stand down.<ref>https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-mccabe-issued-stand-order-clinton-email-investigation/</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/hStEVre1xww</ref> By February of election year, McCabe was promoted to deputy director.

The same month there were calls for [[Attorney General]] [[Loretta Lynch]] to appoint a special prosecutor in the [[Hillary Clinton email scandal|Clinton email probe]] and the [[Uranium One bribery scandal|Uranium One "pay-to-play" scandal]]. The FBI opened its investigation of [[Hillary Clinton]] with Andrew McCabe “running the FBI’s Washington, D.C., field office, which provided personnel and resources to the Clinton email probe.”  Five days after the story broke,<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/us/politics/hillary-clintons-use-of-private-email-at-state-department-raises-flags.html</ref> McCabe and his wife met with Clinton fundraiser [[Terry McAuliffe]]. McAuliffe's political action committee and associated groups under his control gave nearly $700,000 to McCabe's wife to run for the Virginia state senate.<ref>https://www.grassley.senate.gov/news/news-releases/grassley-examines-potential-conflicts-top-fbi-official’s-role-russia-collusion</ref> The Clinton personnel began immediately scrubbing their servers with BleachBit, and McCabe ordered FBI agents to stand down.<ref>https://pjmedia.com/trending/report-mccabe-issued-stand-order-clinton-email-investigation/</ref><ref>https://youtu.be/hStEVre1xww</ref> By February of election year, McCabe was promoted to deputy director.

Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]] reported: {{quotebox|"We identified numerous FBI employees, at all levels of the organization and with no official reason to be in contact with the media, who were nevertheless in frequent contact with reporters. Attached to this report as Attachments E and F are two link charts that reflect the volume of communications that we identified between FBI employees and media representatives in April/May and October 2016. We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review.  

Inspector General [[Michael Horowitz]] reported: {{quotebox|"We identified numerous FBI employees, at all levels of the organization and with no official reason to be in contact with the media, who were nevertheless in frequent contact with reporters. Attached to this report as Attachments E and F are two link charts that reflect the volume of communications that we identified between FBI employees and media representatives in April/May and October 2016. We have profound concerns about the volume and extent of unauthorized media contacts by FBI personnel that we have uncovered during our review.